Glory head north for latest pre-season test

Glory coaching assistant Richard Garcia is looking forward to another solid hit-out on Wednesday evening as the club continues its preparations for the new Hyundai A-League campaign by taking on Joondalup United at Sorrento’s Percy Doyle Reserve.

United’s fellow-PS4 NPL WA sides Inglewood United and Perth SC both provided Glory with stern tests last month and Garcia has no doubt that the northern suburbs outfit will do likewise.

“It’s always good to get games under our belts,” he said, “and we’re expecting another competitive one against Joondalup United.

“We’ll be trying to get a bit more fitness into the guys and seeing if we can implement in the game some of the things that we’ve been working on in training.

“We have a lot of players who are undercooked, so this will be another great opportunity for them to get some valuable game time.

“It’s a long pre-season and we’re trying to get the right balance between games and training.”

Garcia went on to confirm that Glory intend to field most of their big names in the clash with Nick Jennings’s side, while also taking the opportunity to throw some of the club’s promising youngsters into the fray.

“We have one or two players who are carrying little niggles,” he said, “so they won’t be involved, but it’ll be virtually a full squad with a lot of the younger guys coming along as well.

“A lot of them are starting to get some first team experience and that’s something we’ve been keen to do this pre-season; try and give the younger guys a taste of the first-team environment.

“It’s a good chance for those guys to impress and for us to see how they are progressing and how far off they are being ready to become members of the first team squad.”

Kick off time at Percy Doyle Reserve is at 6.30pm and admission is FREE so get along and lend the lads your support if you possibly can.